Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter, any of the fictional locations or characters from the Harry Potter series or any other authors work. This is a work of reworked fiction using the world of Harry Potter. However, I do own this plot and any original characters hence forth created for the purposes of this story.

Shifter

VIII

Senna could only stare from where she sat at her table in the corner of the pub, as she was surprised to see the Weasley's this early, and it looked like they planned to stay the week before school, and they had Hermione with them too. Senna had heard that the Weasley's had won a few magical bucks in some work based 'bonus' or some such. They had apparently gone to Egypt with the cash to visit the eldest son/sibling. It seemed that they were going to spend the last of their cash at the Cauldron rather than save it for school supplies or some such.

However, it appeared that was to Senna's benefit as she could start Operation BFF sooner than later as she eyed the small red-haired girl.

Ginny hadn't long turned twelve, but Senna still thought she looked pretty and divine before shaking that thought off as she was just at that stage where she wanted to stare at pretty girls all day long – and night too.

However, BFF's before thinking about more long-term solutions to their potential love lives. Senna knew that as a girl she was one hundred per cent gay, but Ginny hadn't been born a boy like she had, so she had to take any thought of that slower as girls their age would still be discovering themselves even if mage did tend to mature a little faster than muggles, and Senna really wanted to cuddle and-.

Senna had to shake her head free of those thoughts as she licked some sauce from her lips as she finished the last of her sandwich and wiped her face with a napkin without taking her eyes off Ginny.

"Could I have four single bedrooms please?" Molly Weasley asked as she smiled slightly at the landlord, Tom, "a room with two beds, and one with a double please?" asked Mrs. Weasley to Tom the owner.

"Sorry," he replied. "We only have three singles left. Though, we do have the twin room and a double you can still take. That will all be the last of our rooms."

Mrs. Weasley frowned in frustration, "are you sure you don't?" she asked desperately. Tom shook his head with a tired sigh as he likely knew why they were all so down and would have liked to help.

"Maybe I could help," Senna interrupted as she had skipped from her table to join them, causing them all to look at her to see her smirking. They just threw a plan straight at her. She could and would use this to make friends with Ginny.

She grinned confidently. "Hi, I'm Senna Rose Nightly," she introduced herself smartly as she rolled her name straight off her tongue. "Please, I don't mean to sound out of place ma'am, but I do have a large double room all to myself, and I'm sure it might be fun to share with one of the girls.

"I've been here for a while - while my father is still arranging our new home as we've only recently moved back to England. I shall be starting in second year come September. So, I'll be new to Hogwarts; please, it will help me out a lot – and it's kind of been boring by myself."

"I don't know dear. That's kind of you to offer but I wouldn't want to put you out."

"Nonsense," she replied with a sheepish smile. "I'll be happy to have company. Please?!"

"Well," she answered uncertainly as she looked to the stunning girl's beautiful eyes. She could see through to the look of hope and knew she would give in before she let a small smile slip to her lips.

"Miss. Nightly's been a wonderful guest!" commented one of the barmaids as she was pouring a drink nearby and gave the girl a smile before she took the pint to a patron a little further down the bar.

"Well, I suppose," Mrs. Weasley agreed with a smile and nod while Tom shrugged when she looked towards him, as he didn't care what his guests did as long as they didn't cause trouble or break the law, and they paid their bills. "Well, Ginny, since you'll be in the same year dear, maybe you'll be okay with sharing."

"Oh… okay," she agreed shyly.

Her brown eyes travelled over the brunette girl with a light blush over her cheeks, and her heart was betraying her with how hard it was pounding in her chest. She had never seen a girl so radiant before in her life, and she reminded her of someone. There was something special about her that drew her in.

Senna grinned as she took the red heads hand in hers and started pulling her up the stairs before anyone could change their minds. It felt nice to hold her hand, as she hadn't had much human contact in a while, not that she looked for any or wanted any, especially the beating kind her uncle would have given if he wasn't dead.

"So, what's your name? I'm Senna. I think I already told you, huh?" she asked happily grinning.

Ginny nodded dumbly before shaking her head clear. The girl felt so familiar and warm. She felt safe and kind of content with the strange silver eyed girl.

"Um, I'm Ginevra… umm… I mean Ginny, Ginny Weasley," she replied. "Thank you for letting me stay with you. It is really nice to meet you," she said politely.

"You too," Senna replied. "And don't mention it. It's been getting quite boring around here with no one human to talk too, just my familiars really."

Senna smiled secretly as she opened her door and led Ginny into her room. The red-haired girl gasped upon seeing the black and silver phoenix. Her jaw went slack while Senna tugged her into the room, closing the door behind them.

"Beautiful, isn't she?" she asked the red-haired girl. She could only nod dumbly in response. "Her names Nifes," she informed her simply.

"Hello," whispered the red head in awe, stroking the bird she gave a thrill of courageous song looking smug about something that made Senna suspicious, as phoenixes were weirdly into springing weird stuff out of the blue onto unsuspecting people who could hear their voices properly.

"Why do you and your family look as though something bad happened?" asked Senna suddenly, eager for information, and feeling guilty about making them all so sad. It was too easy to talk about herself as Harry as if they never were the same, but again that made it easier for her to adapt.

Ginny looked up teary eyed and slumped onto the bed. "H-Harry Potter saved my life," she just blurted out. "H-he was m-my brothers and that brown-haired girl's best friend."

"Wasn't he your friend too?" she asked sitting next to the girl taking her hand for support. She felt bad that before she had never considered Ginny as anything more than her - his best friends' little sister.

"N-no. He never e-even noticed me," she replied as tears slowly leaked from her eyes. "A-and nobody cares a-about h-how I feel. He saved my life. T-then he's gone. I-I couldn't pay him b-back," she sobbed.

"Why don't you just say thank you first and see where that goes," suggested Nifes, laughing as a note of calm momentarily brought peace to the room.

Ginny just glared at the bird. "I can't because he's dead you idiot bird," she hissed angrily taking the peace away, and then her face dropped into a look of shock.

Senna turned to the bird. "Um… did she really understand what you said?" she asked with a look of wonder.

"Yes," she agreed. "She did of course. Its been a while since we've heard of a speaker," she agreed with a 'straight-face'.

"Speaker?" they both asked together in confusion.

"Yes…" she agreed with a nod of her birdy head. "Sometimes someone will be born with the ability to speak to and understand animals on a fundamental level of magic… I heard about one years back who was a muggle Doctor-."

"Muggles don't have magic, do they?" Ginny asked as she turned her confused expression to Senna.

Senna shrugged. "I don't think so, but maybe its possible for one to get a magical ability… or something."

"Exactly," Nifes agreed. "That is what she is."

"I see," Senna replied slowly as she looked over her new friend. "Wow… that's pretty cool; you can speak to animals?"

"I don't think so," she answered slowly and confoundedly. "I've never spoken to any animals before today."

"Not all magical… talents awake from birth," Nifes said shrugging her wings. "And if you're 'the' Ginny Weasley I understand you went through some horrible ordeal during the past year at school, and you could not have spoken the parseltongue passwords without the ability to speak snake while you were so out of it, being taught would have been impossible, like you are now speaking phoenix. Your voice filtered through magic to translate into words I understand, even though I do understand English."

"So… I sound like a phoenix?" Ginny asked looking to Senna.

She shrugged while laughing slightly and shook her head. "Not to me; it sounds English to me."

"It will do that," Nifes said. "It would take practice to emulate an animals' actual speech, except for snake; that language is instinctually simple."

"Okay, so we're the same?" Ginny asked with a small smile as she turned back to Senna with a stalled hope mixed in her confused eyes.

"Umm… no… I'm not a Doctor Doolittle," Senna replied while frowning. "I'm still coming to terms that those stories might be based in fact."

"So how can you understand the bird?!" Ginny asked.

"Phoenix!" the 'bird' corrected.

"Phoenix?!" Ginny agreed mainly to humour the 'bird'.

Senna pouted slightly as she thought about what to tell her for a few moments before she remembered something. She quickly went to her bedside draw and pulled out her spare pendant on the black cord and handed it to the red-haired girl with a smug smirk.

"It will protect your mind," Senna said. Ginny was surprised as she looked at the necklace and saw Senna was wearing a similar one, so she placed it on a little disappointed that it seemed so mundane.

"I am a…!" Senna paused as she didn't know the answer to that. "A… shifty person… damn, not shifty… a Shifter… maybe that describes it…?"

"Yes; I would say," Nifes agreed. "Shifter."

"Shifter?" Ginny asked as she felt like her head was going to explode with confusion.

"Yes," the bird agreed. Nifes turned to Ginny with a calming note. "A Shifter as we have just decided to call it seems to be a powerful being of magic that can take on the form and life essence of other beings, even their powers. They can shift matter, and… well honestly, I couldn't tell you what more they could do as Senna is one of a kind and hasn't done too much experimentation yet. I have been around for centuries and I have yet to meet another like her or hear rumour of them."

"What!?" asked Ginny looking at Senna in shock and confusion. The brunette-haired girl's cheeks stained pink. "T-then you can turn into different people…?!" she asked while said girl nervously played with her hair, knowing Ginny should be clever enough to figure things out.

"Um," she blushed brighter. "Only if I've touched them before," she agreed sheepishly.

"W-who are you, really," the redhead asked slowly with a realisation and comprehension coming to her eyes as a smile slowly spread to her lips.

"Harry," Ginny whispered as she wiped tears from her eyes.

Senna nodded slowly. She was startled as she hadn't expected Ginny to squeal in delight and throw herself into her arms. But Senna smiled as it did feel good not having that secret hanging over their heads and held on to the girl tightly while she basked in her discovery, and it felt amazing to have the red head nearly on her lap cuddling her so snuggly.

"Oh my god you're alive," she grinned as she pulled back with an impish look on her face. "A-and you're a pretty twelve-year-old girl," she blushed brightly while trying to suppress giggles.

Senna blushed too. "Um, thanks. You're a pretty twelve-year-old girl too," she replied impishly.

"Warning…! Someone's about to barge in, Senna," interrupted Nifes quickly. "Remember Harry Potter is dead." The two girls nodded and quickly moved further apart.

"Oh, and this is my awesome owl Nightwind," said Senna, winking as she introduced the owl to Ginny who smiled guessing who the bird really was, and quickly patted her just as the door banged open, and Ron stood there with an angry looking Hermione behind him and glaring at the dopey faced boy.

"Ronald! How dare you just barge into a girl's room!" the brown-haired girl yelled angrily.

Ron snorted, amused. "It's just my sister, and-!" What the 'and' was went unheard when he yelped as he was suddenly thrown from the room and the door slammed shut leaving only the girls; one of which just happened to be a silver eyed brunette beauty with vengeance shining furiously within her expression.

"Hey, you!" she shouted angrily. "Foolish little boy outside on the floor…!" she began, her accent coming on very strong, and overpowering with superiority. "You dare barge into this room again! I'll hex you from here all the way to the Aurors office where I'll have you charged with being a perverted trespasser!" She put her wand away and smiled smugly as they heard him running away.

"That was awesome," declared Ginny overjoyed as she resisted the urge to glomp the … girl in a tight hug from behind and never let go.

"You'll get in trouble for underage magic," commented Hermione worriedly.

"Na I won't. My wand has no tracers as I didn't get it here," she replied sheepishly; her lie slid off her tongue without effort. She was tempted to tell Hermione her secret but having been Hermione she knew that unfortunately she couldn't trust her to keep her secret from Dumbledore, and then the world would likely find out. She didn't know what she would do then; likely disappear into a crowd one day and never return; taking Ginny with her of course.

"Oh... that's not fair," she moaned.

Senna shrugged with a huge grin. "I'm Senna," she said, deciding to offer her hand and maybe someday Hermione wouldn't bow down to authority or bull crap anymore and they could be close friends again.

"And who are you?" Senna asked. "You are not that pervert's girlfriend, are you?" she asked with a suppressed snicker as Hermione looked disgusted at the thought, and even shivered.

"No. I'm Hermione Granger," she said taking Senna's hand. Senna shook her hand blushing a little when she remembered checking her old friend out naked. "Well we were sent to ask Ginny what she wanted for dinner and whether you wanted to join us too since you're helping out as you were good enough to share your room with Ginny-."

"Oh. Don't worry about that," interrupted Senna before Ginny could speak. "I'll have something for us brought up. We must get to know each other after all. We'll be in the same year at school, and I'm sure we'll have a blast together, so we're helping each other out, Ginny and I."

"Oh," she replied before smiling as she shrugged. "Well I'll tell Mrs. Weasley, but don't expect her to accept that. She'll probably be up here in an hour if not sooner."

"Yeah, mum can be a little much sometimes," Ginny commented impishly.

"Well, as long as she knocks and waits for the door to open. After all a lady should not forget her manners," replied Senna smugly as Hermione left, closing the door behind her. Senna then locked and sealed the door with her wand and sighed. She slumped onto the bed next to Ginny but smiled at the red-haired girl.

To Be Continued…